True Blood Shapeshifter Actress Shares Her Musical Creativity

Actress Janina Gavankar plays shapeshifter Luna Garza on HBO series True Blood. Ms. Gavankar has released a single and accompanying music video for her song, “Waiting for Godot”. A very creative artist, Ms. Gavankar plans to release a video for each track on her upcoming EP, and has consciously tried to break unstated rules of both music and video production.

Ms. Gavankar studied classical music and percussion as a child. Her EP is still in production with Randy Jackson’s label, Dream Merchant 21. She is unsure what the rest of the tracks will sound like, but has completed at least one other that she talks about in this way:

“very strange, all a cappella, and no moment is like the moment that came before it.”

While acknowledging it as a lofty goal, Ms. Gavankar intends to produce a music video for each track on her EP.

“But I really feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do. It’s the way that I think, it’s the way that I create. It’s all kind of one and the same. I don’t know how to do anything small-scale, much to the dismay of some of the people around me.”

Adding to her creative credentials, Ms. Gavankar produced the “Waiting for Godot” video herself. It was directed by her friend, Caitlin Pashalek. Several years ago, Ms. Pashalek also helmed the video for Ms. Gavankar’s cover of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown”.

“One stake we set in the ground from the get-go with this was this it wasn’t going to be a ‘regular music video.’ I don’t give a sh** about following any sort of norms. I don’t really care if people think I’m hot. I really set out to make something beautiful that had a strong narrative.”

Ms. Gavankar believes that all people are complex and multi-sided. Music and videos are ways in which she expresses the duality of her own nature. While most of her True Blood cast mates know about her musical side, Ms. Gavankar says she has not outwardly advertised it, but she knows most are aware. She believes her music videos are evidence that, as an actress, she is able to bring true creativity to her performances.